happy hour

American  

noun

happy hours plural

1. a cocktail hour or longer period at a bar, during which drinks are served at reduced prices or with free snacks.

   happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m.

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happy hour British  

noun

1. a time, usually in the early evening, when some pubs or bars sell drinks at reduced prices

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happy hour Idioms  

1. A period in the late afternoon or early evening when a bar or lounge features drinks at reduced prices. For example, The hotel bar has a happy hour from five to seven every day. [1960s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• happy hours
  plural

Etymology

Origin of happy hour

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

McCarrick has recently started selling her services directly to workers, teaching them what to say when your boss’s boss approaches you at happy hour, for a few hundred dollars a month.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026

I sidled up to the bar with happy hour in full swing, feeling a little nauseated from the heat and mileage.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 2026

“I always said I would never come back to Northeast Ohio. I was over the cold and the winter,” she said one evening while hosting a women’s-club happy hour on Hudson’s main street.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

It’s great for dinner parties or a casual happy hour snack and will have everyone thinking you paid for catering.

From Salon • May 22, 2026

Arm hoped the roach family would postpone their happy hour until later.

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer